Susan After Narnia
by Eliza Donelittle
Summary: What happened to Susan after the train crash where the rest of the Pevensies died? She inherits Great Uncle Digory's (Professor Kirke) cottage and there finds two Talking Cats who pass on Aslan's message - her adventures are not over yet.
1. Chapter 1 - The Talking Cats

SUSAN AFTER NARNIA

CHAPTER ONE – THE TALKING CATS

Susan paid the taxi driver off and thanked him for helping to unload her rather large amount of luggage. She had probably brought too much but she wasn't sure how long she would be staying. She took the key from out of the envelope that Great Uncle Digory's lawyer had given her and opened the door to the cottage she now owned. The moment she did, memories came flooding back, threatening to overwhelm her in a tidal wave. Peter, Edmund and Lucy racing down the stairs, playing hide and seek, and the wardrobe. The magical, mystical wardrobe that had opened the way to so many adventure in Narnia.

Before she could get too emotional, a middle aged woman emerged from a room. This was Mrs Elliott, Uncle Digory's housekeeper whom the lawyers had arranged to stay on. Without a word, she helped Susan bring the luggage inside the house.

"How are you Miss Pevensie?" she asked sympathetically, looking at the slim young figure clad from top to toe in sombre black. "How was the journey?"

"It was fine," Susan answered mechanically. "Thank you for asking"

"You must be hungry after your journey. Would you like some lunch?"

Susan refused lunch, preferring to wander round the old cottage. She went into the best bedroom where the once magical wardrobe stood, and looked at the young woman with a pale face, eyes that looked too large for the face and black hair done up in a burn, staring back at her in the mirror. Then she opened the door and looked inside. The fur coats were still there, smelling strongly of mothballs. She pushed through and touched the wooden back. She didn't know what she expected; she knew that Narnia did not really exist. Then she got inside and curled up and began to cry.

It was dark when she woke, stiff and uncomfortable. She splashed her tearstained face with cold water in the blue and white bathroom and went downstairs. Mrs Elliott had gone but had left her a dinner of meat pie, potatoes and vegetables in the oven. She ate that and wandered into the sitting room for a while and listened to the wireless. Then she decided to make herself a cup of tea and found the kitchen. She had just put the kettle on to boil when she heard a tap at the window. She froze for a moment and then looked over. There was a large black cat tapping with its paw at the windowpane.

Perhaps it's Uncle Digory's cat, thought Susan. She hurried to let it in. The cat was not just large; it was huge. It reminded Susan of the Talking Cats of Narnia. It slowly stalked into the kitchen and gazed round with a proprietarial air. It was all black apart from four white paws and a white blaze on its chest.

"Are you hungry, puss?" asked Susan and started looking in the cupboard for something for it to eat. She eventually found a tin of tuna, opened it and emptied the contents into a bowl. The cat with an air of great condescension consented to start eating it. Then there was another tap at the window. Susan looked up to see another cat, almost as huge as the last one tapping. This time, the black cat walked over to the back door and rising up on its hind paws, opened the latch with powerful blow from its left front paw.

A beautiful longhaired tortoiseshell cat, almost as huge as the black cat came gracefully into the room. Then it saw the bowl of food and made a beeline for it and began to eat hungrily.

"Goodness, you must have been starving'" commented Susan.

"Not starving but dreadfully tired of mice," said a deep brown voice.

"We've been waiting for you for such a long time," said a rather more feminine voice from the tabby cat.

Susan stared at the cats. They looked back at her.

"Was that you two?" she asked.

"And who else would it be, pray?" asked the big black cat.

"Tobermory, don't be so pompous," scolded the smaller tabby cat. "Why wouldn't she be surprised? We're not in Narnia now you know."

"Don't I know it!" sniffed the other cat.

Susan collapsed into a kitchen chair. "You're Talking Cats from Narnia!" she gasped. Narnia was real, after all!

The huge black cat stood up on his hind paws and bowed.

"Tobermory Ratcatcher at your service.

The other cat also stood up on her hind paws and introduced herself, "Tabitha Mouser at your service, mistress".

"I'm Susan,' she told them

Tobermory snorted. "We know who you are, Queen Susan. Why do you think we are here? Aslan, himself, sent us here to find you."

"Aslan?" exclaimed Susan, her mind in a whirl.

"To find you and to give you a message," added Tabitha.

"He appeared to us," Tobermory told Susan, "And he said 'Go to the land of the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve. Find Queen Susan and tell her 'Daughter of Eve, you are not forgotten. The land of Narnia has come to an end but your adventure is not finished. You must go to the Wood Between the Worlds and seek a new world that needs your help.' That's what he said.

"He also said to tell you," added Tabitha, " I am sending these two cats, Tobermory Ratcatcher and Tabitha Mouser to be your faithful companions and to accompany you on your journeys."

Susan was stunned. She had only just realised that Narnia had existed and now she was being told that the land of Narnia had come to an end. She suddenly thought of the terrible train crash in which all of her family had died. Was this connected? Why was Aslan telling her to go to the Wood Between the Worlds? She dimly remembered Great Uncle Digory telling them about this place. But how was she going to get there? There was a way but she couldn't remember. It was dark and too late to start searching the house now.

"I'm going to bed," she decided. "I'll see you in the morning."

She went up to the best bedroom, which she had decided to have for her own use, undressed and got into bed. But she couldn't sleep. Images of Aslan and the others keep seeping into her mind. She kept wondering if there was a connection between the train crash and the end of Narnia. But why would that happen? Then she started thinking about she was the only one left. She felt guilty about surviving. Before long she was sobbing again. She had left the bedroom door ajar and suddenly she felt two weights on the bed. It was Tobermory and Tabitha. They did not say anything but lay down besides her, comforting her with their presence. She eventually fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Yellow and Green Rings

SUSAN AFTER NARNIA

CHAPTER TWO – THE YELLOW AND GREEN RINGS

Susan was having a disturbing dream. She dreamt that she was on the platform of a country railway station and a train was approaching. As it drew near, she saw the faces of her brothers and sister through a window waving at her and urging her to join the train. As compartments went past, she saw more and more people from Narnia; Mr Tumnus the Faun, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, Prince Caspian, and Reepicheep the Mouse, and many more, all waving to her. She began to run after the train but it did not slow down. She was left, on the platform, staring after the train, full of despair and frustration.

She woke up with tears in her eyes. The cats woke up at the same time, raising their heads and pricking their ears alertly. Then she heard the sound of the key in the lock. Mrs Elliott was arriving for work. Susan got up, and donning a blue dressing gown and slippers, went downstairs. She thought that she had better explain to Mrs Elliott that the cats would be staying in the house.

'Good morning, Miss Pevensie," Mrs Elliott greeted her. "Would you like breakfast now or after you have washed and dressed? I have some nice eggs, we keep our own chickens here, a hang over from the war.'

"Oh after, please Mrs Elliott. I just wanted to mention that I have adopted two stray cats, so don't be surprised if you see them about the house. I'm sure that they will be good mousers."

The cats took it as their cue to come into the kitchen.

"My, aren't they big?' gasped Mrs. Elliot. Then she bent down and holding out her hand, said, "Here, puss, puss." Tobermory just sat as stiff as a statue but Tabitha, after a moment, went forward and good-naturedly rubbed herself around Mrs. Elliott's legs. Mrs. Elliott started stroking her and Tabitha began to purr.

_Oh well done Tabitha!_ Susan thought to herself

Susan remembered the tin of tuna and thought that it might be a good time to mention it.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Elliott but I gave them a tin of tuna last night. I hope it won't inconvenience you too much."

Mrs Elliott stiffened for a moment but then stood up and replied, "That's perfectly fine, Miss Pevensie. I can provide some scraps for the cats though in future. "

Susan was not sure how Tobermory and Tabitha would feel about scraps and did not dare look at them but she politely agreed.

"By the way," Mrs Elliott added, " when you have time today, I wanted to ask you for your ration book if you're going to be staying here for a while." "Of course," said Susan graciously. She knew how important the ration book was. Rationing had still not ended despite the war being over five years now.

After breakfast, she and the cats went into the small ground floor room that had served as Professor Kirke's study. Tobermory was grumbling about Tabitha allowing Mrs. Elliott to pet her behind Susan's back.

"Lets not forget the dignity due us as Talking Beasts of Narnia. Puss indeed!"

"We needed to keep up the pretence that we are non talking cats," said Tabitha meekly.

Tobermory was not happy about the saucer of food that Mrs. Elliott had put out for himself and Tabitha.

"Scraps! Chicken pie, and mashed potato, and gravy. Cats **are** carnivores, you know."

"Tobermory!" Tabitha was shocked. "How dare you complain in front of Queen Susan? You've eaten a lot worse in your time."

Tobermory looked sheepish and subsided.

Susan sat down at the big wooden pedestal desk that Professor Kirke must have brought with him from the old house. She remembered him sitting at it while she and Pete asked him what to do about Lucy and her telling stories about some land called Narnia. She swung the wooden office chair round to face the cats. They sat down and looked at her.

"The message that Aslan gave you, could you repeat it, please?"

They did so.

"Go to the Wood Between The Worlds," Susan repeated slowly. "And he didn't give you any further instructions?"

'No, your Majesty," they chorused.

'Not so loud," urged Susan. "Mrs. Elliott mustn't hear you talking. She must think that you are ordinary cats. We can't let anyone in this world know that you are Talking Cats or you would be put in a zoo or a travelling circus or even have horrible experiments carried out on you in laboratories. Both cats shivered and promised to act just like non-talking cats whenever the housekeeper was around. Tabitha shot a look at Tobermory, as if to say - I told you so.

Then Tabitha added, "Tobermory, we have forgotten the gifts that Aslan sent with us!"

"Gifts?' asked Susan.

"Yes," chimed in Tobermory, "Aslan gave us a gift each and a gift for you."

"What and where are they?" asked Susan.

"Your legendary bow and quiver and swords for myself and Tabitha. We buried them in the garden for safe keeping when we first arrived."

Tabitha was all for fetching them immediately but Susan and Tobermory persuaded her that it would be better to wait until Mrs. Elliott had gone home.

"What is the Wood Between the Worlds, your Majesty?" asked Tobermory.

'It's a special place," replied Susan. "The professor went there when he was a boy with his friend Polly. It's a place between worlds. I remember him saying that you jump into each world through a pool. But you need special magical rings to reach the wood."

"So how do we find them?' asked Tobermory.

"I think I know how," replied Susan. She left the room and returned with a black leather briefcase.

"What is that?" asked Tabitha.

"It's a type of bag for carrying documents," Susan told her.

She opened it up and took out several envelopes. Susan opened a fat, padded envelope and shook the contents out onto the table. Several yellow and green rings clattered out. As soon as she did, a faint humming noise could be heard. Tabitha and Tobermory both exclaimed, "What is that noise?'

The rings were definitely humming. The cats bent forward, curious.

"Don't touch them!" warned Susan. She pointed to the envelope on which was written, in large letters, DO NOT TOUCH WITH NAKED HAND. She then opened another envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper.

"These are the instructions for the rings," she told the cats.

"Oh, did you have the rings already?' asked Tobermory.

"No, I got these as they were with the Professor and with my brothers, with the bodies…" Susan stopped and could not go on for a moment. Both cats looked suitably sad and serious. Then she pulled herself together and continued, "It's lucky I brought all the paperwork with me. I just remembered the envelopes."

"So we go to the Wood Between The Worlds?" asked Tobermory.

"Of course," said Susan, "but I think we need to go properly prepared. I think we should go tomorrow morning once we have recovered the gifts and got some supplies together."

The next morning, Susan and the cats stood ready in Professor Kirke's old study. Susan had locked the door as a precaution.

"We don't want Mrs. Elliott or the cleaner wandering in after we've gone and picking up the spare rings by mistake," she told the cats.

They had retrieved the gifts the evening before, the cats had buried them by the oak tree in the garden so were easy to find. Susan had picked up her bow and quiver full of arrows with trembling fingers. It had been so long since she had last touched these. The cats watched with reverence, they were like sacred relics to them. Tobermory and Tabitha proudly wore their swords; they were smaller than normal swords, cat size. Tobermory was especially proud. Tabitha had confided to Susan that Tobermory's great hero was the legendary Reepicheep the Warrior.

Susan had prepared a satchel with useful items such as a box of cook's matches, a torch with extra battery, a packet of biscuits, a tin each that could be opened with a key on the side, a Swiss army knife, a small note book, some pencils and a pencil sharpener, and a change of underwear and a spare top for her.

Tobermory bowed. "Your Majesty, I must insist that I go first, to make sure that this place is safe."

"That's not necessary, Tobermory," argued Susan, :"I believe the wood is perfectly safe."

"Nevertheless, madam, I must insist." He looked very firm and he touched the pommel of his sword as he spoke. "It is my duty to protect yourself and Tabitha."

Susan was irresistibly reminded of Puss in Boots, all Tobermory needed was a wide brimmed hat and a pair of boots. She managed not to laugh for she did not want to hurt his feelings. Partly to help her overcome her amusement, she said, "Very well, you can go ahead and come back to report that it is safe."

"But how will he manage the green ring? He has nowhere to hold it," commented Tabitha.

Susan thought for a moment and then left the room, returning with a lavender sachet. She emptied the contents into the wastepaper bin and then using the gloves, carefully transferred a green ring into the cotton sachet. Then she tied the sachet around Tobermory's neck.

"There! You can slice open the sachet when you want to return and touch the green ring before you jump into the pool. Don't forget to mark the pool as soon as you arrive to know the right pool to jump back into."

Tobermory bowed again. "You may rely on me, Your Majesty."

Susan wanted to laugh again but managed once more, to control herself. Tobermory picked up a yellow ring in his paw and vanished instantly. Susan and Tabitha waited for him to return but he did not.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Wood between the Worlds

Chapter Three – The Wood Between The Worlds

They waited for some time but Tobermory did not return. Susan decided that they had waited long enough.

'We need to go to find Tobermory, he could be in trouble,' she told Tabitha.

She caught sight of a baseball bat lying on the desk and picked it up. Peter had brought it back from their trip to America and had left it by mistake at Great Uncle Digory's cottage. She hefted it thoughtfully. It occurred to her that it would make a good weapon that could be used at close quarters. She thrust the bat through her belt.

Just then she heard the loud sound of a sports car stopping outside the cottage. She looked outside the window and to her astonished anger, saw Eric Ireland getting out of his low-slung red sports car. Eric was a young man that she had dated briefly in London and had grown to dislike and told him that she did not want to go out with him any more. This had happened just before her family died in the train crash. However, he had not got the hint and persisted in hanging around, Susan had come to the conclusion that the attraction was not her but the money and property that she had recently inherited.

'How on earth did that dratted man get my address?' she wondered aloud.

'What is it, Your Majesty?' asked Tabitha.

'A man I do not want to see. Lets go!' She held out her hand for Tabitha to take.

'You're sure?'

'Absolutely. I don't want to put Mrs. Elliott to the inconvenience of lying and she won't be if we're not here.'

Tabitha took her hand and Susan carefully put her other hand into the pocket of her windcheater containing the yellow ring and touched it. The minute she did so, she felt a strong pull as if someone was tugging at her and the study vanished.

* * *

Mrs. Elliott opened the door and saw a young, tanned, slim man smiling at her.

'Can I help you?' she asked.

'I've come to see Susan,' he said easily. 'Is she in?'

'I'll see, sir. And you are?'

'Oh, I'm Eric, Susan's fiancé,' he told her. 'Perhaps she's mentioned me?'

'No, she hasn't, I'm afraid, ' Mrs Elliott said. 'Would you like to come in?'

'Thank you.'

Susan next saw a soft green light coming down from above while there was darkness below her. She could not feel the ground. Then she felt herself and Tabitha rushing upwards. Suddenly, her head was out of water and Susan and Tabitha emerged out of a pond onto the very green grass beside it. They were not at all wet though. They were in a wood, with large, leafy trees that grew so close together that the sky could not be seen and lots of small pools all around. It was very quiet and yet they could feel that it was intensely alive. Susan recalled how Great Uncle Dior had described it, _'It was a rich place, as rich as plum cake_.'

They spotted Tobermory curled up underneath a large tree.

'Tobermory!' yelled Tabitha and made a beeline for him.

Tobermory opened his yellow eyes and blinked at her.

'Who are you?' he asked as if not very interested.

'Who am I?' asked Tabitha indignantly. 'You know very well who I am. I'm, I'm ….,' she hesitated and then turned to Susan. 'Who am I?' she asked plaintively.

Susan was prepared for this, she knew from Great Uncle Digory's instructions that the wood could have a strange effect on people and make them forget themselves. She had been repeating her name and why they were there to herself while they had been travelling to the wood.

'You're Tabitha Mouser, a Talking Cat of Narnia,' she said firmly.

'I'm Tabitha Mouser? Why, of course, I am. And who is he?'

"He's Tobermory Ratcatcher, also a Talking Cat of Narnia. Can't you remember your name, Tobermory?'

'Tobermory Ratcatcher, am I really? And I'm a Talking Cat of Narnia? Is this Narnia?' he asked doubtfully.

'No, this is the Wood Between The Worlds. You can travel to Narnia from here,' Susan told him.

He blinked then he sat up and looked about him alertly. 'I remember now. Tobermory Ratcatcher. Tabitha Mouser. Narnia. Queen Susan. I'm sorry, Your Majesty, how could I forget who I am?'

'It's the effect that the wood has on people. I forgot to warn you, Tobermory so it's my fault not yours. I'm very sorry.'

'Please, Your Majesty,' protested Tobermory. 'No apology necessary, I do assure you.' He bowed to her.

"What do we do now, Queen Susan?' asked Tabitha.

'First, we mark which pool we came from so we don't get confused with all the other pools here,' decided Susan.

'Allow me, Your Majesty,' said Tobermory and he used his sword to cut a strip of turf from their home pool before wiping the blade carefully on the grass. He looked up expectantly. 'What next?'

'Next, we try one of the pools.'

'Which one?' asked Tabitha.

'Any one,' said Susan, looking round. 'How about that one?' She pointed to a nearby pool.

'Oh!' exclaimed Tabitha who had been surveying the wood with great interest. 'Look at this!' She pointed to the nearby skeleton of a small mammal with a ribbon tied around the middle of its bones and a yellow ring tied to the ribbon.

'That must be the guinea pig that Great Uncle Digory told us about. His Uncle Andrew sent a guinea pig here as an experiment.

'Poor thing,' sighed Tabitha. 'It lived out its life all along. How very lonely it must have been.'

'Oh, I don't think so,' argued Susan. 'I think it would have forgotten about other guinea pigs and been quite happy and undisturbed here. I know that Great Uncle Digory said that he and his friend Polly decided to leave it here because they knew that his Uncle Andrew would only have used it for horrible experiments.'

They moved to the pool that Susan had pointed to. 'Lets hold hands,' said Susan. 'Tobermory, you hold my left hand and Tabitha, hold my right.'

Soon she had a cat's paw in either hand and they looked at each other.

'Lets go!' said Susan. 'On the count of three, one two three, go!'

They all jumped together into the pool.

* * *

Eric followed Mrs. Elliott into the cottage and looked carefully around as he came in, memorising every detail.

'Where is Susan?' he asked.

'I believe she's in the study. If you would wait here, I'll let her know that you have arrived, Mr. Ireland.'

Mrs. Elliott moved off down the hallway to the study door. She knocked on the door and waited. There was no reply.

'Miss Pevensie?' she called. Again, there was no reply. Mrs. Elliott looked perplexed. 'That's strange, I though Miss Pevensie had gone into the study. I must be mistaken. I'll have a look for her if you would care to wait in the lounge?'

'Of course,' said Eric. As he followed her into the lounge, he asked, "There wouldn't be any possibility of rustling up a cup of coffee and a sandwich first, would there, Mrs. Elliott? I'm afraid, I'm awfully hungry as I set off without any breakfast today.'

* * *

They quickly felt themselves rushing up through darkness and soon they were standing on solid ground. However, it was completely dark and very cold. It felt dead and empty.

'I don't like it here,' commented Tabitha, shivering.

'Tabitha!' scolded Tobermory, 'Don't be such a child.'

'It's just my opinion,' muttered Tabitha.

Susan let go their paws, took off her rucksack, fumbled in it and found the torch by touch. She switched it on and played the beam around. They were standing on bare rock and she could see the vast skeleton of something that looked like a dinosaur in the distance. Nothing was growing there and there were no sounds of any animals, birds or insects. It was very eerie.

'Where are we?' asked Tobermory.

'I have no idea,' replied Susan. 'But I agree with Tabitha, I don't like it here. Lets go back to the Wood Between the Worlds.'

They held hands and paws, and Susan slipped on the yellow ring.

As soon as Mrs. Elliott walked out of the lounge, Eric darted to the door and looked down the hallway. Mrs. Elliott was nowhere to be seen. He then doubled back to the study door, and crouching down, looked through the keyhole. He grunted with satisfaction when he saw that the key was in the keyhole on the other side of the door. He grabbed a newspaper lying on the hallstand and slid it half way under the door. Then he took a slim straight piece of wire from his jacket pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. After a few seconds of jiggling the wire about, the key fell with a soft thud onto the floor on the other side. Eric looked up to check that Mrs. Elliott was not coming out of the kitchen. He could hear noises of pans and bowls being moved about and went back to work. He pulled the newspaper with the key onto his side and picked up the key. He inserted it into the lock and turned the key. The door opened into the study.

Eric walked into the study and closed the door quietly behind him. He knew that he did not have much time to search the room. He was hoping for some loose cash, possibly a chequebook or some jewellery. Then a faint humming sound attracted his attention. He walked towards the noise and realised that it was coming from some yellow and green rings lying on the desk. He was just about to pick one up when he saw the handwritten note beside it. He read it quickly and his dark eyebrows went up. Was this a joke or potentially the biggest discovery of his life? He quickly took out his motoring gloves and folding over the instructions twice to make an envelope, put two each of the green and yellow rings inside and put them in his pocket. He decided not to bother with the rest of the study and going outside, locked the door and slid the key back underneath it so that it would not be obvious that someone had been in the study. He was back in the lounge before Mrs. Elliott came in with a cup of coffee and a bacon sandwich.

* * *

They were all pleased to emerge from the pool into the wood. It seemed especially lush and alive after the lifeless world that they had just experienced. Susan pulled out her Swiss army knife and marked an X in the turf.

'So we know not to go there again,' she explained to the cats.

And then the water in that pool began to rapidly subside, leaving a large hollow with damp, dark brown earth. Just as suddenly, little green shoots began to appear, sprouting so quickly that the hollow was dotted with green in no time. They continued to grow so fast that before long, the entire hollow was covered with young, green grass.

They all stared in astonishment. Susan felt a memory tickling her brain and then it came back to her.

'I remember now, something like this happened in the Wood after Great Uncle Digory and Miss Plummer visited their other world where the witch came from. The pool disappeared and grass grew where it had been.'

They all felt a little subdued after the dead world. Susan wondered whether to suggest returning home but she felt that would be cowardly and unqueenlike.

'Shall we try another pool?' she asked. The cats' shoulders slumped. 'If it's like the last one, or if we don't like the look of it, then I think we should give up for the day, go home and try again tomorrow,' she suggested.

The cats straightened up at that, especially Tobermory.

'I should very much like to try another pool,' declared Tobermory. 'I am sure that great adventures await us.'

They walked over to a pool rather further away, held hands and jumped into the pool as Susan touched the green ring in the pocket of her windcheater. They vanished instantly from the wood.


End file.
